About Us

At Open Study College, we empower every member of our family to flourish.

As a family-founded college, we think of everyone as an extended member of our family. Our award winning team, our tutors, and most importantly our students. You won’t be alone throughout your learning journey, and we’re here to support you every step of the way.

Everyone’s journey, whatever that may be, is personal, different, exciting, and sometimes difficult. We know that we are in the privileged position of being the enablers of positive, life-altering change. We are here to do what we can to help people achieve their goals and thrive in life – we are an expert, a friendly ear, 24/7 support, and a wildly enthusiastic cheerleader! We understand that life is busy, and that’s why we offer over 700 courses, all designed to study around your existing work and life commitments. Here, you’ll find out more about our history, our founders, the team at OSC HQ, and our values.

Our team

Over the last 17 years, we've grown to a team of 50 members at OSC HQ. We've picked up 19 awards and supported over 150,000 learners, teaching more than 250,000 courses along the way! Everyone who studies with us becomes a part of the Open Study College family. We're here to cheer you on and help you reach your goals!

Samantha Rutter, CEO, Open Study College.

Samantha Rutter-Bryant

Co-Founder & CEO

Samantha is an inspiration to everyone at Open Study College. She has won numerous awards including ‘Influential Women in Business Award’ and ‘Outstanding Business Person’. She oversees all aspects of the business, and can often be found working closely with the education and commercial teams. As co-founder, Samantha will soon celebrate 18 years' of service and dedication. She has great ambitions for Open Study College’s future and with her vision and leadership skills we are set for continued growth.

Mark Rutter

Co-Founder & Non-Executive Director

Mark has been working in the education industry for over three decades, specifically within the distance learning sector. He used that knowledge and experience to set up the foundations of Open Study College with other family members, building it on what he believed the distance learning education industry needed.

Robbie Bryant

Head of Education & Development

Our Head of Education and Development, Robbie, plays a key part in strengthening our course offering and learner experience. Also managing our B2B arm, he helps businesses around the UK to upskill their workforce and develop their learning culture.

Scott Baker

Head of Internal Operations

Scott joined the Open Study College team in 2016 and makes sure the business is running smoothly day to day! An expert in our 700+ courses and qualifications, he feeds his knowledge to our education specialist team, ensuring our learners are advised on the very best courses for them to achieve their goals.

Shawna Baker

Business Support Director

Shawna joined the family business in 2009, and studied two NVQs in business and customer service alongside helping to grow Open Study College. She has played a key role over the past 16 years in developing the team and brand, strongly advocating for lifelong learning and continuous development.

Richard Miner

Finance Director

Richard is a key member of the Open Study College team with extensive expertise in finance. He joined us over 10 years ago, and has played a huge role in driving the business forward and facilitating the growth of our course offering and community.

John Bray

Head of Ecommerce

John manages all things ecommerce and ensures our website runs efficiently to help learners enrol on their perfect course online. He aims to provide the best journey for our learners, from enrolment to completion. With over 20 years experience in ecommerce, he's an important asset to the Open Study College team!

Our family story

Founded by father and daughter Mark and Samantha Rutter, with the support of other family members, Open Study College has been there for our students since 2007.

Mark had decades of experience within the education industry, in particular distance learning. He is passionate about helping people better themselves and felt there could be so much more he could do to support learners, including offering higher quality courses and tutor support. Together with his daughter, he decided to sacrifice a senior career, sell the family home, and put everything into setting up Open Study College.

In the beginning, the business was being run from the small garage of their family home. Mark and Samantha would offer ICB courses and courses from other providers to students, and with the support of other family members, pack course materials in their garage to send out to students daily, whilst also balancing other jobs to keep the business going. It was certainly a family effort to get the business off the ground with many of those family members still a significant part of the college today.

2009 was a pivotal point within the college, as we started to write and develop our own courses. From then we just grew and grew!

We now have a fantastic team comprising of expert tutors, knowledgeable and friendly education specialists, and a caring learner services team.

Learning should be fun. We love enriching people's lives every day and providing them with the excitement to achieve their dreams. Our values are excitement, ambition and togetherness.

Our co-founder and CEO, Samantha Rutter-Bryant

Co-founder and CEO, Samantha Rutter-Bryant, worked her way up the ladder in the retail industry on a management scheme for a luxury chocolate brand, whilst also studying a Institute of Legal Executives course. However, she always had ambitions of running her own company and a very keen interest in business.

With her business and commercial experience, when Mark suggested setting up Open Study College, Sam felt this was the opportunity she was looking for to combine her skills and her desire to make a difference to people’s lives, and she’s never looked back!

Samantha is an inspiration to everyone at Open Study College. She has won numerous awards including ‘Influential Women in Business Award’ and ‘Outstanding Business Person’. Samantha was also shortlisted in the Top 50 Most Ambitious Business Leaders 2020, an initiative by The LDC (a subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group) and supported by The Telegraph, developed to highlight exceptional leaders of the UK’s most successful and fastest-growing medium-sized companies.

She has great ambitions for Open Study College’s future including creating partnerships to ensure people across the world have access to education.

Our co-founder and non-executive director, Mark Rutter

We don’t call ourselves the distance learning experts for nothing! Our co-founder and non-executive director, Mark, has been working in the education industry for over three decades, specifically within the distance learning sector. He used that knowledge and experience to set up the foundations of Open Study College with other family members, building it on what he believed the distance learning education industry needed.

Our learner services team

Every one of our team is committed to ensuring you receive the best support possible throughout your study journey. No more so than our learner services team, who will be on hand as well as your tutor, to answer any queries or questions you have.

They are a friendly and patient team who are hardworking and dedicated to ensuring you have the best distance learning study experience.

learner services team open study college

education specialist team open study college

Our education specialist team

Nothing is more important to us than for you to choose a course that’s right for you. That’s why every member of our team has extensive knowledge of our courses and will advise you on a course that’s right for your future, goals, and career prospects.

They will guide you through the enrolment process, from helping you choose a course to finding the right finance options. Each member of the team is friendly and dedicated to ensuring you pick the option best for you.

Our values

Open Study College was built on family values. Those values have always been at the core of what we do since Mark and Sam founded OSC back in 2007.

Over the last 17 years we have grown to include almost 50 members at OSC HQ, have 19 award wins to date and over 150,000 learners, all of whom we believe are members of the OSC family and together are supported to achieve their ambitions, just like your own family do!

At OSC we empower our family members to move forward with their goals by always having their interests at the heart of what we do. That’s not just our learner members – helping them achieve their ambitions, but also our team members – developing them so they feel fulfilled in their careers.

Learning should be fun. We love enriching people’s lives every day and providing them with the excitement to achieve their dreams.

Our values are excitement, ambition, and togetherness.

Giving back

Here at Open Study College, giving back to the community is something that is really important to us. With ‘Togetherness’ being one of our core values, our feeling of togetherness extends beyond those who work directly at OSC. We are incredibly proud to support a number of charities and good causes. Find out more about the different charities we support and how your enrolment will help.

Helping you to progress

We understand that it’s difficult to make the decision to study a distance learning course. Whether you didn’t get the grades the first time around, looking to change your career, or want to boost your skills, just believe in yourself and we can help you get there.

With Open Study College, you can start from the beginning and work your way up. There is no rush and there is no pressure. You can study your GCSEs right through to level 7 courses, at your own pace and on your own terms!

Study at any age, there really is no limit. If you have any more questions about how distance learning works, visit our FAQs page.